Confidence Trumps Cards!

If you spend enough time in life on one activity - like golf, for example - you're bound to occasionally witness something amazing, like a hole-in-one. I've played a lot of poker in my life, and here's one of those moments, one of the more incredible and more entertaining hands in which I've ever been involved.

First, it didn't occur on television or at some other star-studded event, but at one of my favorite home games, the Wisconsin Homeboys Holiday Poker Game, recently. The blinds were $5-$5, the buy-in was $1,000, and the rebuys were at least $500 a pop. The game got under way at Jon Ferraro's house in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, at noon, and by midnight there was more than $70,000 on the table.

After 14 hours of play, I had carved out a reputation for playing extemely tight. I made a lot of early folds, but many times during play, I called a bet or a raise with A-K or better, only to have another player raise or reraise. And when the action came back to me, I made a huge reraise myself. I watched Paul Clements lay down A-Q immediately in one of those spots, whereupon I showed my A-K. Let's sum it up this way: I was playing solid poker, sometimes trapping with big hands.

Now, are you ready for this? Here's how that amazing hand came down. Ferraro had the $40 "Mississippi Straddle" on the button, meaning that Craig "Spa Man" Hueffner, who was in the small blind, had to act first, which he did by calling the $40 with J-9 offsuit.

I called with 6-3 offsuit, Jon Green called, and Clements made it $210 to go with A-K. Eric Behling then called $210 with his own A-K - and Spa Man called. Then, I announced, "I raise the size of the pot," which meant that I called $160 and raised it $880 more. Clements pondered awhile, and when I said, "I have nothing," he folded, probably because he had heard me saying that all day long when in fact I was holding big timber.

Then, Behling folded his A-K, too! So, I turned to my last remaining opponent and said, "Those guys just folded big hands. C'mon Spa Man, just $880 more to play with the champ!" Spa Man called the $880, and when the flop came down A-K-9 - pairing his 9 - he bet out $400. (The folded players must have died a quiet death, seeing how the board came down!)
I thought to myself, I've been playing patiently here all night, and it's time to put my hard-earned reputation to work. So, I again said, "I raise the pot." I called the $400 bet and made it $3,340 more to go.

At that point, Spa Man did something rarely seen in any game: He flipped his holecards faceup! I knew that his hand was not dead yet, not in this game, and after a full minute passed, I feared that he was actually going to call me down. I was afraid of that for three reasons: First, I had already seen him make some tough calls; second, I knew that he wasn't afraid to put his chips into the pot; and finally, he just looked like he didn't believe me. Sensing that I was sunk, I wondered, how can I get out of this jam? My cards won't help, so I have to rely on something else.

So, I decided to match Spa Man's craziness with a little of my own. Confidently, I made a ridiculous offer: "Spa Man, if you call the $3,340, I'll put in $1,000 of it for you." I waited another 45 seconds, and then said, "That offer is valid for another five seconds - five, four, three, two …"

Spa Man quickly said, "I call. Here's $2,340. Please add your $1,000." So, I contributed one of my own $1,000 chips to my opponent's bet against me!

By now, other observers from around the room had gathered around us, amid much excitement, and than they saw that the turn card was the 2. I knew that I had to man up and follow through with my bluff, so I bet $3,000, and to my enormous relief, Spa Man folded. I was psyched, and pushed my cards facedown toward the dealer.

But, everyone shouted, "Show the hand, show the hand!" In a normal Las Vegas poker game, the cards already would have hit the muck, but the dealer (Wayne "Tilly" Tyler) kept the cards separated as the chorus grew louder. Finally, I thought to myself, why not? So, I flipped up my cards and the railbirds were stunned to see my 6-3 offsuit! And then everyone applauded!

What was amazing about this hand? Two players were dealt A-K, and both folded before the flop! The flop, amazingly enough, was A-K-9. Spa Man flipped a "live hand" faceup for all to see, and then called a big bet. And, most incredibly, under the guise of projecting confidence, I contributed a $1,000 chip to his bet against me! (I'm not sure how I thought of this move; I guess that it just popped into my head.) Thus, the worst hand finished first while the best hands finished last!

Sometimes a guy doesn't get a hole-in-one because he has the best swing, but because he has the guts to go for it in the first place. And in poker, as in life, oftentimes a big pot is won not by the guy with the best cards, but by the guy who plays with the most confidence.